Page 51 of Savage Enemy

“Where did the blood come from?”

“Christ,” Marco grumbled. “I just bought this shirt.”

Santo let out a genuine, boyish laugh.

“So whose blood is it?” I asked, forgetting myself.

“Doesn’t matter,” Marco said, waving off my question.

Then he settled the pizza box on his lap and dug into a slice.

Santo folded his arms and smirked like he knew something.

“Where’s Aris… did he learn anything this time?”

Marco sighed. “He’s downstairs with Father right now, getting some things handled. You should go help.”

Santo shrugged. “Or I could stay up here and avoid the sociopath altogether.”

“Which one?” I blurted.

Oh mother of Christ, had I really just said that out loud? I immediately pressed my lips together.

Me shit-talking Saul to my brothers was a big no-no.

We all thought it, but voicing it crossed a line.

“Go now, Santo,” Marco ordered.

Santo rolled his eyes, cursed under his breath while looking at me a little differently than before, like he was seeing me now instead of looking through me.

Then he left the room, leaving me alone with my older brother for the first time since they’d taken me.

Santo’s departure prompted an instant change in mood, the tension making the air feel thicker and amplifying the silence.

Marco got up and shut the door, turned the lock, and let the overwhelming quiet suffocate me. Time slowed as he made his way back to his seat on the bed.

I once trusted him, the brother who had protected me from Saul and the leering eyes of Saul’s disgusting friends.

Now Marco locked us in a room together, his shirt sleeve notably splattered with blood as he glared at me.

Had Saul turned Marco into a monster?

Had the old bastard beat the honor and goodness out of my older brother like he beat the joy out of Santo?

“You should have stayed dead, girl.”

I released a long exhale.

He didn’t look angry. His words didn’t come off like a threat, just a stated fact. Then his stone-cold expression melted, and my brother came around the bed to stand in front of me.

The brother I’d needed in my life for the past decade.

The brother I’d missed so much.

I swallowed back the thickness in my throat.

“You mentioned that on the plane. It was the plan, believe me. How long have you known about me?”

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